1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to audio and visual equipment, and more particularly to tape cassettes for such equipment, which have recording tapes installed therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In current audio and visual equipment, tape cassettes have been widely used for the ease with which they can be handled. They are usually constructed of plastics and have a recording tape installed therein.
In order to clarify the purpose of the present invention, a conventional video tape cassette 1 will be described briefly with reference to FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawing.
In the drawing, the numeral 2 denotes a lower shell of the video tape cassette 1. Denoted by numeral 3 is a pivotal front lid of the tape cassette 1. The lower shell 2 is provided at its front side near the front lid 3 with a first pair of positioning openings 1A and 1A and at its rear side with second pair of positioning openings 1B and 1B. When the tape cassette 1 is put into a video tape cassette player, metal positioning pins of the player are inserted into the corresponding positioning openings 1A, 1A, 1B and 1B to achieve positioning of the tape cassette 1 relative to the player.
However, hitherto, the durability of the positioning openings 1A, 1A, 1B and 1B, more specifically, the durability of the lower shell 2 at the portions which define the openings 1A, 1A, 1B and 1B has been given little thought. In fact, after long use of the tape cassette, the opening defining portions of the lower cassette 2 have shown marked wear due to repeated sliding engagement between the positioning openings 1A, 1A, 1B and 1B and the corresponding positioning pins of the player. In such case, accurate positioning of the worn tape cassette 1 relative to the player is almost impossible.